U.S. factory sector unexpectedly strong in August: ISM's Fiore

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. manufacturing sector beat expectations in August to expand at its fastest pace in more than 14 years on strong demand at home and abroad, Timothy Fiore, chair of the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing business survey committee said on Tuesday.

“This is a surprising month for August. You could expect September to be a strong month,” Fiore said on a conference call with reporters after ISM released its August factory activity data.

The ISM gauge on domestic manufacturing rose to 61.3 last month, the strongest reading since May 2004 and up from 58.1 in July. Analysts polled by Reuters had projected a reading of 57.7 for August.